The five-hour process set the stage for opening statements to begin Wednesday in the case, which is expected to include testimony from Musk to explain his thinking while engaged in one of his favorite activities — tweeting on the
In the
Musk's tweet also attracted the attention of securities regulators, who concluded that it was improper and that he was lying. In a settlement, they forced him to pay
He has since contended that he entered the settlement under duress and maintains that he believed he had locked up financial backing for the buyout during meetings with representatives from Saudi Arabia’s
Even while he has been making major changes at
The trial hinges on an
But the buyout never materialized, and now Musk will have to explain his actions under oath in a federal court in
The trial's outcome may turn on the jury’s interpretation of Musk’s motive for the tweets, which U.S. District Judge
The judge dealt Musk another setback on Friday, when he rejected Musk’s bid to transfer the trial to a federal court in
The challenge of finding jurors without strong feelings about Musk became evident during Tuesday’s painstaking selection process.
At one point, the judge flagged some prospective jurors who had expressed extreme misgivings or enthusiasm about Musk in pretrial questionnaires. Seven jurors were questioned individually, away from the rest of the jury pool, to reduce the chances of influencing the opinions of others in the courtroom.
Chen and lawyers for both the shareholders and Musk ended up grilling seven of those jurors, who variously described Musk as “arrogant,” “narcissistic,” “unpredictable,” “a little off his rocker,” “a mercenary” and “a genius.”
Musk’s leadership of
Those concerns contributed to a 65% percent decline in Tesla’s stock last year that wiped out more than
After Musk dropped the idea of a
The trial is likely to provide insights into Musk's management style, given that the witness list includes some of
The drama may shed light on Musk's relationship with his brother, Kimbal, who is also on the list of potential witnesses. The trial is expected to last until early February.
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